October in the Southern Hemisphere

[GordonT]

Nothing rare or fancy but things are looking wonderfully lush and exuberant in my garden right now...


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I was given this as I. douglasiana, but who knows! Bob Nold?


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This PCI is from seed that Fermi sent me, first time I've seen it flower.

Jamus, there is a simplified key to the species that might help confirm the Iris douglasiana identification on the SPCNI website:
http://www.pacificcoastiris.org/wildiris_simplified_key.html
It lists douglasiana floral colour as lavender/purple, though some of the seed in last year's SPCNI exchange  described white and yellow cultivars as well. I am still waiting for a first bloom on my seedlings.

That seedling you grew from Fermi's seed is stunning! That would definitely be a keeper  for me. Do you grow many Pacific  Coast Iris?

[Parsla]

I'm with you Jamus, that is an amazing rock garden posted by Lesley at Kaydale. And the mass plantings!
And your plants are wonderful - esp for such a hot dry state of Australia.

Just a few little things to show - not all mine.

1. Narcissus hybrid from Glenbrook "Russell Falls". Terribly sweet form.
2. The garden greening up with Viburnum "Mariesii" and Syringa Patula "Miss Kim" in flower. And yes, sadly I need possum guards on the birches.
3. The only surviving Geranium sinensis from Bjornar seed - there were more but I took my eye off the ball. This one is in a pot and I daren't plant it out until I'm sure the feral rabbits are locked out. The leaves were an unexpected delight - all blotched in crimson. Yet to flower.
4. Anemone nemorosa "Vestal" in Susan Jarick's garden. One of Marcus's.
5. An elegant trillium whose name escapes me - also at Susan's.

jacqui.

[Cfred72]

hello, is it not a Trillium flexipes?

[Jupiter]

Thanks Jacqui, I was trying to embrace our hot dry climate by growing various Irises and other tough bulbs, but now we're having the wettest spring I've ever experienced. I just can't win!

Gordon thanks for that key to the Pacific Iris species. I'll have a shot at working through it on the weekend, although it probably gets confusing when what you're looking at is a hybrid of two or more.

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
I am usually too busy with our daffodils to post photos of plants growing in our house garden. It is tree peony and waratah time at the moment.
This is Part 1

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
Part 2.

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
Part 3.

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
Part 4

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
Part 5

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
Part 6.

[Maggi Young]

The Waratahs and Paeonias are just glorious, Graham. Your garden must be giving  lot of pleasure right now.

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
Maggie, our garden is a delight at the moment and I am not sure the photos I have posted do some of them justice. We have a number of Chow peonies (a Melbourne hybridiser of tree peonies) and there are at least 5 of them that have had at least 10 flowers out at once and the same is true of the red and pink waratahs. The Chow peonies are very much display peonies and the flowers are not lost in the foliage like our Vesuvius. Vesuvius has two flower out at the moment but they are in amongst the foliage. Our first seedling will flower this year and we have quite a few more seedlings coming along in the shade house. The shade house also has a lot of
We like tree peonies but we like a lot of plants. We need more iris and dahlias. Our garden is designed to have continuous flowers. The daffodils, cyclamen, crocus, magnolias and flowering cherries have finished but were still flowering when the first  What the photos don't show is that we have a lot of liliums that will flower as the peonies end. Then will come the hundreds of roses, crinums and dahlias. Then there are the autumn crocus and colchicums. The Japanese maples look a treat in autumn when they change colour.
Not sure why but it has not been a good year for fritillaria for us. Maybe it has been too wet as we have had our second wettest September rainfall on record.
There is still a lot of work to be done. We have are well on the way to drought-proofing our property with our water tank and recycling systems. We will be increasing our gardens substantially so that we have more display gardens for our daffodils. Shade is the big issue for us. We need more shade but it takes a long time for the trees to get up to where they provide adequate shade.

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
A few more photos.

[Parsla]

Thank you CFred, it is indeed T. flexipes.

You have a glorious paeonia collection Graham. The vesuvius would be stunning whether or not the blooms nestle in concealed from view.

I shall post 4 photos.

1. Jasminium parkerii in flower. Dear little rockery plant.

2. A flower spike on the japanese woodland orchid Calanthe discolour. Unfortunate placement in the back of a bed but seems to do well hiding away there.

3. The unfurling bud of an iris Marcus gave to me 18 months ago.
Iris hermona x hermona on the label. It needs to leave a now overcrowded pot for the garden this autumn.

4. An open bloom of the same.

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
The weather has been unkind to our plants as it has been unseasonally windy here.
The roses season is not far away now.